Archbishop McCarthy was born on April 10, 1918 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was one of five siblings, four of whom chose the religious life: two of his brothers, Norbert (now deceased) and Donald, are priests in Ohio; a sister, Catherine (deceased), was a Sister of Charity; another sister, Grace, is the mother of five children. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 29, 1943. He was appointed auxilairy Bishop of Cincinnati on June 15, 1965. First Bishop of Phoenix, Arizona on August 25, 1969, coadjutor Archbishop of Miami, with right of succession on July 5, 1976. He became the Archbisoph of Miami on July 26, 1977 and resigned as Archbishop of Miami in 1993 and the mandorty age of retirment at 75.

He was educated at St. Gregory Seminary and Mt. St. Mary Seminary, Norwood, Ohio. He received a Doctor of Canon Law in 1947 from Appolinare, the School of Canon Law at the Lateran University, Rome,summa cum laude.In 1948 he received a Doctor of Sacred Theology, magna cum laude, from the Angelicum University, Rome. Master's Degree in Philosophy, from the Atheneum of Ohio.

Highlights of Ministry in Archdiocese of Miami

· Established Family Enrichment Center, Office of Lay Ministry, Permanent Diaconate program and Office of Community Relations and Public Information (1978)
· Re-organized Archdiocese into seven ministries: General Services, Temporalities, Christian Formation, Christian Service, Pastoral Services, Persons, and Worship and Spiritual Life (1979)
· Issued "Pastoral Guidelines for Marriage Preparation", which required a four-month waiting and preparation period for all couples seeking to be married in the Archdiocese (1980)
· Established Office of Evangelization and launched five-year plan of evangelization (1980-1985), which focused on a different theme each year: Family, Parish, Faith, Prayer, and Love
· Dedicated Pierre Toussaint Haitian Catholic Center (1981) to provide spiritual home as well as English classes, day care and referral services for South Florida's Haitian refugees
· Visited Haitians at Krome Avenue camp on Christmas Eve, then sent a telegram to President Reagan protesting policy of indefinite detention for Haitian refugees claiming political asylum (1981), a plea that would be repeated throughout the '80s;
· Traveled to Cuba with Auxiliary Bishop John Nevins, to attend the installation of Havana Archbishop (now cardinal) Jaime Lucas Ortega (December, 1981)
· Ordained the Archdiocese's first black priest, Cuban-born Father Sergio Carrillo (1982); its first Haitian priest, Father Jean Pierre (1988) and its first Nicaraguan priest, Father Oscar Brantome (1989), who also became the first Nicaraguan pastor (1992)
· Dedicated new home for Archdiocesan offices, the Pastoral Center in Miami Shores, a Spanish-style building which he helped design (1983)
· Presided over the division of the Archdiocese of Miami and the creation of two new Florida dioceses, Palm Beach and Venice (1984)
· To give "greater credence" to the Church's anti-abortion stand, promised "to assist every woman of any faith -- or no faith -- who is in financial need and chooses life for her child rather than death by abortion" (1985)
· Called for first-ever Archdiocesan Synod, a massive three-year process of self-examination and planning for the future which elicited the views and suggestions of thousands of South Florida Catholics; it was also the first synod to be called in Florida in 28 years (1985)
· Vigorously opposed, alone and together with Florida's other bishops, the death penalty, casino gambling, restrictive immigration policies, and the establishment of health clinics that provided contraceptives and abortion referrals to high school students; supported tuition tax credits for parents of children in private schools
· Created a new Archdiocesan agency, now known as Catholic Health Services, to deal exclusively with the building and management of low-cost apartments and health care facilities for the elderly (1986)
· Welcomed Pope John Paul II to South Florida (1987)
· Established Genesis, a home for homeless AIDS patients (1988), and consistently called for compassion and support for victims of the disease
· Took over sponsorship of St. Thomas University, making it the only diocesan-sponsored Catholic university in Florida (1988)
· Created an Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, composed mainly of lay people, to advise him on the running of the Archdiocese; also established a Social Advocacy Commission to study social justice issues, propose solutions and advocate "the pursuit of justice" throughout the Archdiocese (1990)
· Received the Pope Paul VI Evangelization Award from the National Catholic Evangelization Association (1991)
· Began Radio Peace, 13 hours of Catholic programming in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole, on WKAT-AM 1360 (1993)
· To mark the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, created the Archbishop McCarthy Foundation for Child Care, an Archdiocesan endowment that began with $235,000 raised at a dinner in his honor (May, 1993)
· Attended the groundbreaking and blessing of a new archdiocesan high school named in his honor, Archbishop Edward McCarthy High School in Fort Lauderdale (opened in fall, 1998); regularly visited and corresponded with the students
· Continued to be active by celebrating Confirmation ceremonies in the parishes and serving as spiritual director of the Ascending Life movement, an organization for Catholics of retirement age.